Top Items:
New York Times:
Job Changes for E.P.A. Officials Who Questioned Scott Pruitt — WASHINGTON — At least five officials at the Environmental Protection Agency, four of them high-ranking, were reassigned or demoted, or requested new jobs in the past year after they raised concerns about the spending and management …
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Julianna Goldman / CBS News:
Scott Pruitt asked to use sirens in D.C. traffic and was told no for non-emergency — Several weeks after taking the helm of the Environmental Protection Agency, Administrator Scott Pruitt was running late and stuck in Washington, D.C., traffic. Sources tell CBS News that he wanted to use …
Discussion:
HuffPost, Talking Points Memo, Washington Post and Mother Jones
CNN:
Trump floated replacing Sessions with Pruitt this week despite scandals — (CNN)President Donald Trump floated replacing Attorney General Jeff Sessions with Scott Pruitt as recently as this week, even as the scandal-ridden head of the Environmental Protection Agency has faced a growing list …
Andrew Restuccia / Politico:
Pruitt fell behind on payments for his $50-a-night condo rental — Environmental Protection Agency chief Scott Pruitt was at times slow to pay the rent on his $50-per-night lease in a Capitol Hill condo, according to two people with knowledge of the situation — forcing his lobbyist landlord to pester him for payment.
Discussion:
New York Times, The Week, Mediaite and BuzzFeed
Arn Pearson / Salon:
Exclusive: Scott Pruitt, Trump's embattled EPA chief, involved in shady 2011 real estate deal
Exclusive: Scott Pruitt, Trump's embattled EPA chief, involved in shady 2011 real estate deal
Discussion:
ABC News
Josh Marshall / Talking Points Memo:
Trade Sheet Says Pruitt's Fall Was Fall Out From Rob Porter Abuse Scandal
Trade Sheet Says Pruitt's Fall Was Fall Out From Rob Porter Abuse Scandal
Discussion:
Political Wire, CBS News and RedState
McClatchy Washington Bureau:
Mueller probe tracking down Trump business partners, with Cohen a focus of queries — WASHINGTON — Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigators this week questioned an associate of the Trump Organization who was involved in overseas deals with President Donald Trump's company in recent years.
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Jenna Johnson / Washington Post:
Trump says he didn't know his attorney paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels
Trump says he didn't know his attorney paid $130,000 to porn star Stormy Daniels
Discussion:
The Daily Beast, Politico, ABC News, VICE News and Political Wire
Julie Hirschfeld Davis / New York Times:
Trump Denies Knowing of Any Hush Money Paid to Porn Actress
CNN:
Trump says he didn't know about Stormy Daniels payment
Trump says he didn't know about Stormy Daniels payment
Discussion:
ThinkProgress, Law & Crime, KTLA, FOX 61, The Atlantic and Splinter
Katherine Mangu-Ward / Hit & Run:
By Firing Kevin Williamson,The Atlantic Shows It Can't Handle Real Ideological Diversity — Kevin Williamson has been fired from The Atlantic. Since leaving National Review in March, the conservative writer has managed to produce just one column at his new perch, in which he declared the death of the libertarian moment.
Discussion:
Mediaite, Althouse, twitchy.com, New Republic, The Daily Caller, Jezebel, ThinkProgress and Little Green Footballs
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Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:
Atlantic Fires Kevin Williamson After Suddenly Realizing He Believes The Things He Says
Atlantic Fires Kevin Williamson After Suddenly Realizing He Believes The Things He Says
Discussion:
The Hill, The Daily Beast, Media Matters for America, Washington Free Beacon, The Wrap, Washington Post, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Concourse, Vox, The Federalist, Hullabaloo, TheBlaze, Daily Wire, NewsBusters, Splinter, Talking Points Memo, CNNMoney, Politico, thecut and American Greatness, more at Mediagazer »
Warren Henry / The Federalist:
Ta-Nehisi Coates And Jessica Valenti Prove The Atlantic's Hypocrisy On Kevin Williamson
Ta-Nehisi Coates And Jessica Valenti Prove The Atlantic's Hypocrisy On Kevin Williamson
Victor Davis Hanson / National Review:
A Response to Kevin Williamson
A Response to Kevin Williamson
Discussion:
twitchy.com, American Greatness and The American Conservative
Luke O'Brien / HuffPost:
Trump's Most Influential White Nationalist Troll Is A Middlebury Grad Who Lives In Manhattan — Twitter troll “Ricky Vaughn” had a bigger influence on the 2016 election than NBC News and the Drudge Report. Here's who he really is. — Who is Ricky Vaughn?
Discussion:
Weekly Standard, Splinter, Hullabaloo, VTDigger, Seven Days and Mother Jones
CNN:
Lewandowski to Democrats: I'm not answering your ‘f—ing’ questions — EDITOR'S NOTE: This story contains language some people may find offensive. — (CNN)Corey Lewandowski had a blunt message for Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee: He wasn't going to answer their “fucking” questions.
Discussion:
Splinter, Raw Story, Mediaite and The Daily Caller
Josh Gerstein / Politico:
Mueller moved to seize bank accounts in Manafort probe — Special Counsel Robert Mueller's office moved to seize bank accounts at three different financial institutions last year just one day before former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort was indicted, prosecutors disclosed in a court filing Thursday.
Discussion:
Raw Story
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Daily Mail:
Saudi crown prince says Jared Kushner handed him U.S. intelligence — Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman bragged of receiving classified US intelligence from Jared Kushner and using it as part of a purge of ‘corrupt’ princes and businessmen, DailyMail.com can disclose.
Discussion:
POLITICUSUSA
Greg Jaffe / Washington Post:
For Trump and his generals, ‘victory’ has different meanings … President Trump's pronouncement that he would be pulling troops out of Syria “very soon” has laid bare a major source of tension between the president and his generals. — Trump has made winning on the battlefields of Iraq …
Discussion:
New York Magazine
Ken Sweet / Associated Press:
Mulvaney gives big pay bumps to his hires at consumer agency — NEW YORK (AP) — Mick Mulvaney, President Donald Trump's appointee to oversee the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, has given big pay raises to the deputies he has hired to help him run the bureau, according to salary records obtained by The Associated Press.
Discussion:
New York Times and ThinkProgress
Christina Farr / CNBC:
Facebook sent a doctor on a secret mission to ask hospitals to share patient data — Facebook was in talks with top hospitals and other medical groups as recently as last month about a proposal to share data about the social networks of their most vulnerable patients.
Discussion:
Forbes, Engadget, Gizmodo, The Verge, The Guardian, Daily Caller News Foundation, The Daily Caller, Nextgov, Recode, New York Times and The Atlantic, more at Techmeme »
Kevin Collier / BuzzFeed:
These Messages Show Julian Assange Talked About Seeking Hacked Files From Guccifer 2.0 — DMs tie Assange to a Russia-linked hacker — and raise new questions about his Seth Rich conspiracy theory. — Twitter DMs obtained by BuzzFeed News show that in the summer of 2016 …
Discussion:
The Gateway Pundit
Tennessean.com:
Phil Bredesen holds double-digit lead over Marsha Blackburn in US Senate race, new MTSU poll shows — Former Gov. Phil Bredesen has a 10-point lead over U.S. Rep. Marsha Blackburn in the race to succeed U.S. Sen. Bob Corker, according to a new poll from Middle Tennessee State University.
Discussion:
Splinter, New York Magazine, Outside the Beltway, The Week, Washington Times, Raw Story, Axios and No More Mister Nice Blog
Axios:
Trump fires next shot in China trade war — President Trump tonight says he's directed the U.S. Trade Representative to consider an additional $100 billion in tariffs on China, and that the administration may take other actions to “protect our farmers and agricultural interests.”
Discussion:
Bloomberg, New York Times, One America News Network and Mediaite
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Jackie Wattles / CNNMoney:
Trump threatens to slap $100 billion in additional tariffs on China
Trump threatens to slap $100 billion in additional tariffs on China
Discussion:
KTLA, New York Times, Daily Caller News Foundation, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV and TheBlaze
Associated Press:
Number of women running for US House seats sets record — CHERRY HILL, N.J. (AP) — The number of women running for seats in the U.S. House of Representatives set a record Thursday, the vast majority of them Democrats motivated by angst over President Donald Trump and policies of the Republican-controlled Congress.
Discussion:
Jezebel, Mother Jones, thecut, RedState, The Week, Axios and Political Wire
Ramona Giwargis / Las Vegas Review-Journal:
Woman says Las Vegas GOP campaign adviser made her his sex slave — GOP consultant Benjamin Sparks (Photo obtained by Las Vegas Review-Journal) — GOP consultant Benjamin Sparks is pictured in this undated photo obtained by the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sparks is accused of sexually enslaving and battering his ex fiancee.
Henry / Crooked Timber:
Who has any use for conservative intellectuals? — The firing of Kevin Williamson has led, predictably, to outrage from other conservatives, and in particular from anti-Trumpers like Bill Kristol and Erick Erickson. I can't help thinking that much of their outrage is rooted in fear.
Discussion:
bradford-delong.com
Ashley Feinberg / HuffPost:
Here's Don Jr. Talking About How It Sucks To Be At The Playboy Mansion With A Pregnant Wife — Has the president's son ever contemplated killing his dad for the money? He once talked about that on the radio! — In January 2007, Adam Carolla broadcast his radio show, “The Adam Carolla Show …
Discussion:
Washington Press, thecut, Hullabaloo and Jezebel
BuzzFeed:
Trump Says An Unprecedented Number Of Rapes Are Occurring During The Caravan. Our Reporter Is There And Says That's False. — The president was reviving remarks he made at his campaign debut about Mexicans being rapists. — Reporting From — Traveling with the caravan in Mexico
Discussion:
Washington Post, NBC News, thecut and Outside the Beltway
Jeremy W. Peters / New York Times:
Under Trump, an Office Meant to Help Refugees Enters the Abortion Wars — WASHINGTON — Scott Lloyd's unadorned job title betrays little hint of the power he has over the pregnant teenagers in his custody. — As director of the Office of Refugee Resettlement, he oversees the assistance program …
Gabriel Sherman / Vanity Fair:
“You Don't Attack a Kid”: Inside the Laura Ingraham Nightmare at Fox News — Ingraham may have erred terribly in assailing a Parkland survivor, but she has the support of the man in charge of Fox News. “Rupert has been annoyed by what he perceives as cowardly behavior by his executives,” says one person close to the mogul.
Discussion:
No More Mister Nice Blog, Raw Story and Mediaite
Matthew Panzarino / TechCrunch:
Apple's 2019 Mac Pro will be shaped by workflows — Yes, Mac Pro is coming in 2019 — A year ago, I visited the Apple campus in Cupertino to figure out where the hell the new Mac Pro was. I joined a round-table discussion with Apple SVPs and a handful of reporters to get the skinny on what was taking so long.
Washington Post:
Conor McGregor reportedly arrested, expected to be charged with assault after ravaging UFC event … Conor McGregor responded to UFC President Dana White's decision to strip him of his lightweight belt in typically understated fashion: by tweeting an unprintable insult, crashing a pre-fight press event …
Discussion:
TMZ.com, Fox News, fox5sandiego.com, USA Today, Bloody Elbow, twitchy.com and TheBlaze
Jeff Stein / Washington Post:
Kentucky legislators send tax cuts for wealthy, tax hikes for the other 95 percent to governor's desk … The Kentucky legislature passed a sweeping tax overhaul this week, and now lawmakers are asking Gov. Matt Bevin to sign a bill that would slash taxes for some corporations and wealthy individuals …
Colin Kalmbacher / Law & Crime:
Daily Beast Sues Department of Justice Over Nunes Memo — The Daily Beast has filed a lawsuit against the Department of Justice for multiple alleged violations of the nation's privacy laws. — Filed on behalf of the media outlet by attorneys with the James Madison Project …
Discussion:
Raw Story and Daily Caller News Foundation
Chauncey Devega / Salon:
Have Christian nationalists staged a “soft coup,” with Trump as their figurehead? — Scholar Andrew Whitehead: Right-wing evangelicals think Trump can make “their vision of a Christian nation” real — By the standards of any of the world's major religions Donald Trump is an ungodly person …
Discussion:
Raw Story